The history of scotch whisky is the history of independent bottling.
In the beginning, there were grocers. Yes, grocers.
Well, not exactly. Whisky existed before grocers, but the sale of it did not. Whisky was originally a homemade product, distilled to use extra grain that would not otherwise last the winter, more moonshine than what we drink today. But as I was saying…
In the beginning of whisky as a traded commodity, there were grocers. Starting in the 19th century, distillers would sell their product to grocers. But the whisky of the day could be quite inconsistent, so many of these grocers started blending the whisky they sold to make a consistent, quality product. Johnny Walker, Dewars, all those other big brand whisky blends…they started as grocers. And in creating their blends and bottling those creations themselves, they became the first “independent bottlers.”
Of course, those big brands are not what we think of as independent bottlers today. And they weren’t the only ones who started bottling the whisky under their own names. Gordon & MacPhail and Cadenhead’s, the godfathers of modern independent bottling, also began life as grocers–and even maintain markets to this day.
Both Cadenhead’s and Gordon & MacPhail saw a different opportunity. With almost all of the whisky produced then being sold into blends, they used their brands to showcase the individual distilleries whose casks they purchased. In many cases, it was the first time these distilleries received such recognition on the bottle.
Hence, the births not only of independent bottlers as we think of them today, but of single malt as a product.
Their innovations did not stop there. Gordon & MacPhail and Cadenhead’s realized they had valuable assets in the now empty casks they had already purchased, assets which they did not want to waste. Because of their reputations for quality, the distilleries began to fill these casks for them with new-make spirit and they started aging whisky themselves.
A handful of distilleries (such as Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, and The Macallan) noticed what Cadenhead’s and Gordon & MacPhail were doing and began bottling single malt themselves,. But for the most part, Scotch whisky remained the domain of the blends, single malt a minor category furthered by these independent bottlers.
Flash forward to the 1960s. The second wave of independent bottling swept the shores of the whisky world, led by the Italians. At a time when the big brands were becoming more and more homogenized, introducing chill-filtering and caramel coloring for even greater consistency year-to-year over vast volumes of product, the likes of the Italian company Samaroli, the first non-English and non-Scottish whisky brand, cut across that grain.
Then… Wham, bam, whisky loch.
Whisky’s market share plummets. Whisky is seen as an old person’s drink; other spirits go on the rise. Too much made; supply far outweighs demand. Distilleries mothball, shutter; even those that don’t liquidate because they go under have to sell their product for a song.
And who is out there to buy up this stock? Independent bottlers.
Enter the third generation, which includes not just traditional companies but also the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a “club” that buys and ages its own single cask, single malt whisky.
Soon independent bottlers are more than just the outlet that distilleries that primarily sell into blends find their names on bottles. Now independent bottlers are the sole source of whisky from those distilleries that have shuttered.
Their single malt releases don’t just survive, they flourish. Consumers respond. The industry takes notice. And single malt explodes…
The whisky world is reborn. All thanks to independent bottlers.
